Overview

How to harness the great forces of capitalism to save the world from catastrophe. The forecasts are grim and time is running out, but that's not the end of the story. In this book, Fred Krupp, longtime president of the Environmental Defense Fund, brings a stirring and hopeful call to arms: We can solve global warming. And in doing so we will build the new industries, jobs, and fortunes of the twenty-first century. In Earth: The Sequel, listeners will encounter the bold innovators and investors who are reinventing energy and the ways we use it. Among them: a frontier impresario who keeps his ice hotel frozen all summer long with the energy of hot springs; a utility engineer who feeds smokestack gases from coal-fired plants to voracious algae, then turns them into fuel; and a tribe of Native Americans, fishermen in the roughest Pacific waters for 2,000 years, who are now harvesting the fierce power of the waves themselves. These entrepreneurs are poised to remake the world's biggest business and save the planet-if America's political leaders give them a fair chance to compete.

Product Details

About the Author

Miriam Horn writes for U.S. News and World Report and is the author of Rebels in White Gloves.

Fred Krupp has been president of the Environmental Defense Fund for twenty-three years.

Reader of over 400 audiobooks, Dick Hill has won three coveted Audie awards and been nominated numerous times. He is also the recipient of several AudioFile Earphones Awards. AudioFile includes Dick on their prestigious list of "Golden Voices."

Read an Excerpt

Miriam Horn writes for U.S. News and World Report and is the author of Rebels in White Gloves.

Fred Krupp has been president of the Environmental Defense Fund for twenty-three years.

Reader of over 400 audiobooks, Dick Hill has won three coveted Audie awards and been nominated numerous times. He is also the recipient of several AudioFile Earphones Awards. AudioFile includes Dick on their prestigious list of "Golden Voices."

First Chapter

Miriam Horn writes for U.S. News and World Report and is the author of Rebels in White Gloves.

Fred Krupp has been president of the Environmental Defense Fund for twenty-three years.

Reader of over 400 audiobooks, Dick Hill has won three coveted Audie awards and been nominated numerous times. He is also the recipient of several AudioFile Earphones Awards. AudioFile includes Dick on their prestigious list of "Golden Voices."

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 A New Industrial Revolution 3

Chapter 2 Harnessing the Sun, Part I 15

Chapter 3 Harnessing the Sun, Part II 45

Chapter 4 Fuels from Living Creatures 74

Chapter 5 New Sources of Biofuels 92

Chapter 6 Ocean Energy 119

Chapter 7 Power from the Earth 145

Chapter 8 Reconsidering Coal 166

Chapter 9 Today's Solutions 197

Chapter 10 A World of Possibility 240

Afterword 262

Acknowledgments 271

Resources 273

Index 275

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Highly informative.... A welcome contribution to an increasingly heated discussion." -Los Angeles Times

Reading Group Guide

Chapter 1 A New Industrial Revolution 3

Chapter 2 Harnessing the Sun, Part I 15

Chapter 3 Harnessing the Sun, Part II 45

Chapter 4 Fuels from Living Creatures 74

Chapter 5 New Sources of Biofuels 92

Chapter 6 Ocean Energy 119

Chapter 7 Power from the Earth 145

Chapter 8 Reconsidering Coal 166

Chapter 9 Today's Solutions 197

Chapter 10 A World of Possibility 240

Afterword 262

Acknowledgments 271

Resources 273

Index 275

Interviews

Chapter 1 A New Industrial Revolution 3

Chapter 2 Harnessing the Sun, Part I 15

Chapter 3 Harnessing the Sun, Part II 45

Chapter 4 Fuels from Living Creatures 74

Chapter 5 New Sources of Biofuels 92

Chapter 6 Ocean Energy 119

Chapter 7 Power from the Earth 145

Chapter 8 Reconsidering Coal 166

Chapter 9 Today's Solutions 197

Chapter 10 A World of Possibility 240

Afterword 262

Acknowledgments 271

Resources 273

Index 275

Recipe

Chapter 1 A New Industrial Revolution 3

Chapter 2 Harnessing the Sun, Part I 15

Chapter 3 Harnessing the Sun, Part II 45

Chapter 4 Fuels from Living Creatures 74

Chapter 5 New Sources of Biofuels 92

Chapter 6 Ocean Energy 119

Chapter 7 Power from the Earth 145

Chapter 8 Reconsidering Coal 166

Chapter 9 Today's Solutions 197

Chapter 10 A World of Possibility 240

Afterword 262

Acknowledgments 271

Resources 273

Index 275

Videos

Fred Krupp

Editorial Reviews

"Highly informative.... A welcome contribution to an increasingly heated discussion." Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher

Environmental Defense Fund president Krupp and journalist Horn proffer a business-centric prescription for alleviating climate change, coupling the market force of capitalism with technological innovation and entrepreneurial inventiveness. The authors argue in favor of strict federal carbon caps, which would induce innovators to explore new ways to control carbon dioxide emissions. The book notes the global and historical successes of cap and trade mechanisms, such as the Clean Air Act of 1990. Designed specifically to control sulfur dioxide (which causes acid rain), the Clean Air Act cut emissions 30% more than the law required by providing coal plant operators with a financial incentive to modernize. New technologies that would benefit from such a "logical, elegant, market-based approach" include one as basic as an Arizona natural gas power plant that vents its smokestack waste into a vast greenhouse, where it nourishes algae used for manufacturing biodiesel, and one as a radical as harnessing the kinetic energy of molecules as a power source. This optimistic book brims with similar ideas, balancing jargon-heavy science with engaging profiles of individuals who are blending business and science in an attempt to save the planet. (Mar.)

Environmental Defense, a major national advocacy group that promotes market-based solutions to environmental problems, has often influenced U.S. government policy, notably with the Clean Air Act. Krupp, its longtime president, and journalist Horn begin their survey of current attempts by scientists, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs to meet our energy needs by summarizing recent scientific statements that global carbon emissions must be cut drastically to halt climate change. The authors strongly advocate federal government caps (legislated limits) and trading of allowances on carbon. Assigning a cost to carbon emissions, they argue, would allow cleaner sources of energy to compete with fossil fuels in the marketplace and would encourage innovation. Successive chapters sketch recent progress and possibilities in solar, biofuels, ocean, geothermal, coal, biogas, conservation, and transportation. The last chapter looks at some experimental sources of energy and methods for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This wide-ranging but focused book joins recent, similar titles like George Monbiot's Heat: How To Stop the Planet from Burning and Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder's The Clean Tech Revolution. It should have extra presence because of Krupp's profile. Recommended for public and academic libraries building up collections on sustainability, alternative energy, and the environment.David R. Conn

Library Journal

“Instead of dwelling on the negative, the authors suggest that policy changes will allow businesses to halt global warming. . . . An upbeat, forward-looking assessment of what the future could bring.”

Newsday

“An inspiring message of hope for individuals and a rousing call to action to political leaders worldwide.”